Immigration Law Loopholes

Report Says Salvadoran Migration To U.s. Is Rising

WASHINGTON — The new immigration law has failed to stem the flow of illegal aliens to the U.S. from El Salvador, according to a confidential cable from the American Embassy there.

The report does not discuss patterns of immigration from other countries. Mark W. Everson, deputy commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, declined to comment on the cable. But he insisted, as have other Reagan administration officials, that the law is working as intended to discourage illegal immigration.

The law, which prohibits the hiring of illegal aliens, temporarily reduced Salvadoran migration to the United States for several months after it was signed by President Reagan in November, 1986, the report says. But the cable says that ``illegal migration to the United States is increasing`` and has ``risen back to 1984-86 levels.``

The law was designed to curtail illegal immigration by penalizing American employers who hire illegal aliens. However, the cable concluded that the employer sanctions ``are failing to slow illegal Salvadoran migration to the United States.``

Salvadorans have learned of ``loopholes`` in the law and delays in enforcement, the cable said. They also know that the House of Representatives passed a bill in July to suspend the deportation of Salvadorans living illegally in the U.S., the cable said. The Senate is expected to consider a similar bill this spring.

The bills would protect about 500,000 Salvadorans and 200,000 Nicaraguans. Members of Congress singled them out for special attention because of the civil strife, economic difficulties and reports of human-rights violations in both countries.

These developments, taken together, ``appear to have convinced Salvadorans that the United States is not serious about enforcing its immigration law`` against them, the cable said.

El Salvador`s ambassador to the U.S., Ernesto Rivas-Gallont, said he generally agreed with the cable. ``Immigration, legal and illegal, from El Salvador to the United States has not really decreased,`` he said in an interview. ``Traffic through this embassy and through our seven consulates continues to be very substantial.``

The immigration service often cites its apprehensions of illegal aliens as an indication of the level of illegal migration. Everson said the number of illegal aliens apprehended along the U.S.-Mexico border declined 30 percent, to 1.1 million, in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. It continues to decline, he said.

Apprehensions of Salvadorans also dropped, to a low of 496 in April, but have been rising steadily, according to government data. Such apprehensions totaled 1,053 in September, the last month for which figures are available.

The law offers legal status, or amnesty, to illegal aliens who can prove that they entered the U.S. before Jan. 1, 1982, and have lived here continuously since.

In its report to the State Department, the American Embassy in El Salvador predicted ``an astronomical increase`` in applications for visas in the 1990s as Salvadorans seek to join relatives in the U.S. who gain legal status under the new law.